HISTORY OF INDIAN SMART ENTREPRENEURS

DHIRU BHAI AMBANI: Dhiru Bhai Ambani creates India’s largest private sector company. Reliance is the first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list . Dhiru Bhai Ambani was the most enterprising Indian entrepreneur. His life journey is resonant of the rags to riches story. He is remembered as the one who rewrote Indian corporate history and built a truly global corporate group. He was born in December 28, 1932 at Chorwad, Gujarat, into a Modh family. His father was a school teacher. Dhiru Bhai Ambani started his entrepreneurial career by selling “bhajias” to pilgrims in Mount Girnar over the weekends. and died in : July 6, 2002.

After doing his matriculation at the age of 16, Dhiru Bhai moved to Aden. He worked there as a gas-station attendant, and as a clerk in an oil company. He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and set up a textile trading company. Assisted by his two sons, Mukesh and Anil, Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India‘s largest private sector company, Reliance India Limited, Over time his business has diversified into a core specialization in petrochemicals with additional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy, power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and logistics.
In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global markets, its high credit-taking in international markets limited only by India‘s sovereign rating. Reliance also became the first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list.

ANIL AMBANI: Anil Ambani is one of the foremost entrepreneurs of Independent India. He is the Chairman of Anil Dhiru Bhai Ambani Group .He was Chosen as the ‘CEO of the Year 2004′ in the Platts Global Energy Awards and MTV Youth Icon of the Year’ in September 2003. Anil Ambani did his Bachelors in Science from the University of Bombay and Masters in Business Administration The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Anil Ambani joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer. He pioneered India Inc’s forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depository receipts, convertibles and bonds, After the split in Reliance Group, Anil Ambani founded Anil Dhiru Bhai Ambani Group. He is the Chairman of all listed Group companies, which include: Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Natural Resources Limited

Anil Ambai was elected as an independent member Rajya Sabha MP in June 2004. But he resigned voluntarily on March 25, 2006. Anil Ambani has won several awards and honors. Major among these include: ‘CEO of the Year 2004′ in the Platts Global Energy Awards, ‘MTV Youth Icon of the Year’ in September 2003, ‘The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award’ by the Bombay Management Association, and ‘Businessman of the Year Award’ by leading Business Magazine, Business India in 1997.

MUKESH AMBANI: Mukesh Ambani is the face of new emerging India. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest private sector company. Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19, 1957 in Mumbai. His father DhirubhaiAmbani was then a small businessman who later on rose to become one of the legends of Indian industry. Mukesh Ambani did his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from University of Bombay and Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University, USA.. Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and was the brain behind Reliance’s backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals. During the process of backward integration, Mukesh Ambani led the creation of 51 new, world-class manufacturing facilities involving diverse technologies that raised Reliance’s manufacturing capacities manifold. World’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar is the brainchild of Mukesh Ambani. He was also the in charge of Dhirubhai’s dream project Reliance Infocomm. Recently, he also entered into an agreement with Haryana Government to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with an investment running into thousands of corers. Mukesh Ambani has many achievements and honors to his name.

Mukesh Ambani was chosen as the ET Business leader of the Year 2006. He was ranked 42nd among the World’s Most Respected Business Leaders and second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and published in Financial Times, London, November 2004.

AZIM PREMJI: Azim Premji is the Chairman of Wipro Technologies, one of the largest software companies in India. He is an icon among Indian businessmen and his success story is a source of inspiration to a number of budding entrepreneurs. He was Born on July 24, 1945, Azim Hashim Premji was studying Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA when due to the sudden death of his father; he was called upon to handle the family business. Azim Premji took over the reins of family business in 1966 at the age of 21. Under Azim Premji’s leadership Wipro has metamorphosed from a Rs.70 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats to a pioneer in providing integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform. Today, Wipro Technologies is the largest independent R&D service provider in the world. At the first annual general meeting of the company attended by Azim Premji, a shareholder doubted Premji’s ability to handle business at such a young age and publicly advised him to sell his shareholding and give it to a more mature management. This spurred Azim Premji and made him all the more determined to make Wipro a success story. And the rest is history.

Azim Premji has several achievements to his credit. In 2000, Asia week magazine, voted Premji among the 20 most powerful men in the world. Azim Premji was among the 50 richest people in the world from 2001 to 2003 listed by Forbes. In April 2004, Times Magazine rated him among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. He is also the richest Indian for the past several years. In 2005, Government of India honored Azim Premji with Padma Bhushan.

KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA: Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. The group is India‘s third largest business house. Major companies of Aditya Birla Group in India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular. Aditya Birla Group’s joint ventures include Birla Sun Life (Financial Services) and Birla NGK (Insulators). The group also has its presence in various countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt, Canada, China and Australia. He was Born on June 14, 1967, Kumar Mangalam Birla spent the early of his life in Calcutta and Mumbai. He is a Chartered Accountant and did his MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from the LondonBusinessSchool, London. Kumar Mangalam Birla took over as Chairman in 1995, at the age of 28, after sudden demise of his father, noted industrialist Aditya Birla, after whom the group is named. Under Kumar Mangalam Birla’s leadership, the Aditya Birla Group, apart from consolidating its position in existing businesses, also ventured into sunrise sectors like cellular telephony, asset management, software and BPO. Kumar Mangalam Birla also holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards, including chairmanship of the advisory committee constituted by the ministry of company affairs for 2006 and 2007, membership of the prime minister of India’s advisory council on trade and industry, chairmanship of the board of trade reconstituted by the union minister of commerce and industry, and membership of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India.

Kumar Mangalam Birla has won several honors. Major among them include The Business Leader of the Year (2003) by The Economic Times, Business Man of the Year – 2003 by Business India, and The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year –
India in 2005.

VIJAY MALLYA: Vijay Mallya is the Chairman of the United Beverages (UB) Group. He recently launched a new domestic airline called Kingfisher Airline which is making great waves. Vijay Mallya is famous for his flamboyant and flashy lifestyle. Vijay Mallya is the son of a famous industrialist Vittal Mallya. He assumed the Chairman of the UB Group in 1983 and took the company to great heights. Under his dynamic leadership the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over sixty companies. During this process United Beverages acquired several companies abroad. The UB Group has diversified business interests ranging from alcoholic beverages to life sciences, engineering, agriculture, chemicals, information technology and leisure. In 2005, Vijay Mallya established Kingfisher Airlines. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. It was the first airline in India to operate with all new aircrafts. Kingfisher Airlines is also the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380. In 2000, Vijay Mallya entered politics superceded Subramanian Swami as the president of Janata Party.

RAHUL BAJAJ: Rahul Bajaj is one of India‘s most distinguished business leaders and internationally respected for his business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. Rahul Bajaj is the Chairman of the Bajaj Group, which ranks among the top 10 business houses in India. The Bajaj Group has diversified interests ranging from automobiles, home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. Rahul Bajaj is an alumnus of Harvard, St. Stephen’s and Cathedral. He took over the reins of Bajaj Group in 1965. Under his stewardship, the turnover of the Bajaj Auto the flagship company has risen from Rs.72 million to Rs.46.16 billion. Rahul Bajaj created one of India‘s best companies in the difficult days of the licenses-permit raj. He established factories at Akurdi and Waluj. In 1980s Bajaj Auto was top scooter producer in India and its Chetek brand had a 10-year waiting period. The recession and stock market collapse of 2001 hit the company hard and it was predicted that the days of Bajaj Auto were numbered. However, Bajaj Auto re-invented itself, established a world-class factory in Chakan, invested in R&D and came up with Bajaj Pulsar Motorcycle. Bajaj Pulsar is currently a leader in its segment.

Lakshmi Mittal Profile

Lakshmi Mittal has become something of a cult figure in the global steel industry. His company Mittal Steel is the largest steel maker in the world. After the recent merger between Mittal Steel and Arcelor which raged a big debate throughout the Europe, Laxmi Mittal current controls 10% of the total steel production and the combined entity that has come into force post-merger is three times the size of its nearest competitors.

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was born on June 15, 1950 at Sadulpur, in Churu district of Rajasthan, in a poor family. The extended family of 20 lived on bare concrete floors, slept on rope beds and cooked on an open fire in the brickyard in a house built by his grandfather. Laxmi Mittal belongs to Marwari Aggarwal caste and his grandfather worked for the Tarachand Ghanshyam Das firm, one of the leading Marwari industrial firms of pre-independence India.

The family later on moved to Kolkata where his father Mohan Mittal became a partner in a steel company. Lakshmi Mittal graduated from St. Xaviers in Kolkata with a commerce degree in 1969. He began his career working in the family’s steelmaking business in India and in 1976, Lakshmi Mittal founded Mittal Steel Company. He split from his father and two younger brothers in 1994 and took the international arm, with interests in Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago, while the rest of the family kept the domestic Indian business. In the last few years Mittal Steel has made a number of acquisitions, buying up a network of steel producers in former communist countries including Kazakhstan, Romania and Ukraine, and pushing into the U.S. in 2004 with the $4.5 billion purchase of International Steel Group. Today, Mittal Steel is the only truly global steel producer in the world with operations on 14 countries, spanning 4 continents.
Lakshmi Mittal is also known for his opulence. In 2003, he acquired the Kensington mansion, said to be the world’s most expensive home, from Formula One racing’s Bernie Ecclestone for £70 million ($128 million). His daughter Vanisha’s $50 million wedding bash is touted as the most expensive wedding of the 20th century.
In March 2006, Lakshmi Mittal was listed as the third wealthiest person in the world after Bill Gates and Warren Buffet by Forbes Magazine.

Ekta Kapoor Profile

Ekta Kapoor can be aptly called as the reigning queen of Indian television industry. The serials produced by her company Balaji Telefilms are a great hit with the masses and are dominating all the major T.V. channels in India.Born on June 7, 1975, Ekta Kapoor is daughter of former Bollywood superstar Jeetendra and sister of current Bollywood hero Tusshar Kapoor. Ekta Kapoor did her schooling from Bombay Scottish School and later on joined Mithibai College. She was not interested in academics and on the advice of her father ventured into TV-serial production at the age of 19. And soon she changed the face of Indian television industry and completely dominated it. Today, Ekta Kapoor is the creative director of Balaji Telefilms. Her company has produced more than 25 serials and each one is being shown, on an average, four times a week on different television channels. Ekta Kapoor’s serials have captured the imagination of masses. She broken all previous records of TV serial production and popularity in India. Her most famous television venture has been “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” which began in 2000 and is still leading the TRP ratings in India. Her other famous serials include “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki”, “Kahiin To Hoga”, “Kavyanjali”, “Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa”, “Kasamh Se”, “Kahin Kisii Roz”, “Kasautii Zindagi Kay”, “Kkusum”, “Kutumb”, “Kalash”, and “Kundali”.For her entrepreneurial skills and achievements Ekta Kapoor was awarded with Ernst & Young (E&Y) Startup Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2001.